_astralis' photostream  

My name is Gillian, I'm 26 years old and I currently live in Birmingham, England. I work part time and im studying for a BSc (Hons) Physical Sciences degree with the OU. Science wise, my main areas of interest lie with astrophysics, cosmology, planetary sciences, meteorology and climatology. I'm lazy, I like to procrastinate regularly and I'm a perfectionist of the worst kind. I'm also an obsessive traveller. As long as I've got the money, I'll be off visiting new countries and mostly having the time of my life (until I have to come back!). Of course, my travelling hobby is further fueled by my love of photography. Landscape and macro photography are my preference, the latter mostly of butterflies. I remember when my Dad used to take me out on regular butterfly field trips when I was younger. I still have his butterfly field guide memorised! Back then, he had a rather big camera (considered ancient, nowadays) that was a bit top-heavy for my little hands, but I vividly remember chasing butterflies around for hours until I could get close enough to get a good shot. During my later years at secondary school, my interest in photography dwindled but later came back when I left at 17. Since around 2005, it has become more of an obsession!

My first good camera was a Konica. I wasn't as serious about photography then as I am now so it did the job nicely. However, I soon got fed up of taking 40 reels of film on holiday with me, especially after the airport staff in New York thought I was trying to smuggle drugs out of the country in all the little film cases that contained my used reels! So, in 2006, I purchased my first digital camera: the Canon IXUS 800 IS. To say that I was impressed with it would be an understatement. It was with this camera that I re-discovered my love of photography. In 2008, I upgraded to the Canon IXUS 960 IS which is just incredible. It's a challenge to photograph butterflies with this camera but thats all part of the fun of it :) It wasn't until December 2009 that i decided to upgrade to the Canon EOS 500D. Im still in the process of getting my full kit together but here's a list of what i currently have and what i so desperately want :)

My current kit:
Canon EOS 500D
Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM
Canon EF 300mm f/4 L IS USM
Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 Tripod
Manfrotto 410 Junior Geared Head
LEE ND Soft Grad Filter Set (03, 0.6, 0.9), plus accessories
LEE Big Stopper (10-stop ND filter)
Lowepro Mini Trekker backpack
Lowepro Passport Sling

My wishlist:
Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM
Canon 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM

Combining my astronomic and photographic interests, I am also the proud owner of a Celestron C8-NGT telescope with all the gadgets. I also have the Meade DSI Pro II CCD camera that I use for astrophotography. The problem is getting the time to set it all up to use it!

Compared to many people on Flickr, I am merely a beginner. There is so much more I have to learn and I welcome the challenge. If I can ever be half as talented as some of the photographers on here, I will be very happy indeed :) If anyone has any tips or suggestions on how I can improve my work, please don't hesitate to contact me. I welcome any feedback and also enjoy making new friends.

Please note that all photographs are copyrighted to me and must not be used, copied or edited without my written permission.




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